Minimum wage in Ireland

Hello Alan,

Legal or not. You might want to rethink your career path. You've a long life ahead of you. And while at 17 it's great to have a bit of money in your pocket, it will not seem so great when your peers start to earn significantly more than you after investing in a few years more of education. End of Dad type lecture.


And it doesn't seem legal. You should (as far as I read it) be on 70% of minimum wage. I'm assuming you're not on an apprenticeship.

Sub-minimum rates

Young employees and people in first 2 years of employment

Since 1 January 2018 the National Minimum Wage Act provides the following sub-minimum rates:

• An employee who is aged under 18 is entitled to €6.69 per hour (70% of the minimum wage)
• An employee who is in the first year of employment since the age of 18 is entitled to €7.64 per hour (80% of minimum wage)
• An employee who is in the second year of employment since the date of first employment over the age of 18 is entitled to €8.60 per hour (90% of the minimum wage)

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/pay_and_employment/pay_inc_min_wage.html#l62fd2

Minimum wage applies even under age 18. It's called sub-minimum rates. It's 70% of the minimum so is €6.69 Gross (before deductions) per hour. You need a payslip to see what's happening. If you are on emergency tax you could be losing up to 40% tax and 8% usc out of it. A single person with no other income wouldn't pay any tax even doing 40hours pw at that rate. There would e a very small amount of USC at 0.5%.

I'd start by asking for a payslip for the week you mentioned and then more info could be provided.

It is the employee's responsibility to get a tax credit cert sorted. In the absence of any the employer just emergency taxes you. But you can get that back if tax cert gets sorted.